Happy Halloween, Shanghai. Gather 'round the embers. Let me tell you a tale of reanimated bars, shapeshifting restaurants moving among us under new names and guises, and the most terrifying thing of all, venues vanishing in a puff of smoke overnight.

Also Peet's is open. I didn't know how to work that into this little horror campfire story I started off with. Spoooooky caffeine.

***

Now Open

You remember how Chi-Q got shut down? It's been replaced by Michelin-starred Kanpai Classic's second location, literally a stone's throw from its original joint in Five on the Bund, across the street. Build a Michelin-starred zipline! Peet's, which has been threatening to open, has opened. Coffees are of the variety you'd expect at a Starbucks, hovering in that sort of 30-40rmb range. It's looks like a nice spot, maybe a little ostentatious for what's apparently a more down-to-earth brand in the States, but we wrote about it here already. Immediate buzz with this place though. We stopped by for a coffee around lunch time today (Monday), and they had a line out the front door and down the patio stairs. Word travels fast.

Casualty List

I don't really know when this one happened, maybe a few months ago, but hidden Bund cafe Chonor closed shop. Nice view there, with a decent (for the Bund), cheap (for the Bund) cappuccino. Bummer. Bombay Bistro has the dubious honor of being the last(ish) spot on Yongfu Lu to shut down. There's still that Italian place hanging on! Bombay Bistro's going to be moving to a new location near Jing'an temple, probably looking to open sometime next month. Meanwhile, La Bota on Dagu Lu has closed up shop. I'm pretty sure this time's for sure. The big news on the shut-down circuit is that Citizen has closed as of last Thursday. They were going to have a 12th anniversary party, but due to rising rent, it turned into a goodbye party. Guh. That was a punch in the gut of every expat who packed that place out back in like... 2010, 2011? According to the people I ask. They made a real good clam chowder I hear. Popular spot, shuttered on the eve of its anniversary. Happens all the time. It's the curse of Shanghai oooowwoo~. Anyway, Senator Saloon and Sichuan Citizen by the same owners continue to exist, and they said they're looking for somewhere Citizen can open up again. Finally, Blackbird is the last casualty of the Dongping Lu shutdown. RIP Dongping Lu.

The Word Around Town

Okay, bear with me on this one. Dozo is becoming JA Tasting Lounge. But not yet. For now, it's rather cumbersomely called Dozo / JA Tasting Lounge in our directory, because they're still serving the Dozo menu with its Japanese selection, alongside the new fusion-y menu. They'll be keeping some of the sushi and sashimi from Dozo, but the offerings are shifting to something new along with the name. Look out for a Dozo closing party in the near future, which will, presumably morph into the JA Tasting Lounge opening party. Another odd one. Remember how Franck (which has been open since July) is basically the same thing as Franck but without Franck? The same thing is happening to his erstwhile bar next door, Le Petit Franck. The concerns (again, not Franck), say they're trying to bring it back to the "first generation of the Le Petit Franck," back before Farine was even a thing, maybe 5-6 years ago. That's opening in, they say, max two weeks time. It was previously mentioned that Arkham was going to have a new place called Asylum in it, and I was very glad. Turns out they can't call it Asylum because there's a place in Nanjing called that. So it'll be the same concept, a lounge bar inside Arkham, but under a different name. According to a cat on the streets, there's a Perry's moving into that electronics mark on Xizang Nan Lu, in the same building as the Mac Doctor. Come for the iPhone repair, stay for the whiskey buckets.

The Happenings

Menus, Deals, Parties, Whatever Strictly Cookies are doing Spookies. Spooooooookies. A combination of the word spooky and cookies. Except cookies is pronounced like the "oo" from "book" not "kooky," so it sounds like how the Spanish or Italians pronounce it. What was I talking about? Who cares, this name is silly but I'm also jealous I didn't think of it. They're pumpkin flavored and actually pretty good. 5 for 65rmb, get 'em on their website.